Abandoned
by Shmecka
Summary: Cosima has been left alone for a lot of time over the past decade. Cosima is in charge of her younger sister, Alison. What happens when Cosima meets Alison's science teacher, Ms Cormier. M for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

An ominous voice called through the announcement speaker after a second of crackling

"Cosima Niehaus, please report to the principal's office promptly."

 _They know._

 _They know what has happened._

I stood up and made my way out the class. I walked down the hallway with the same two words replaying in my head.

 _They know._

I didn't tell anyone but somehow they know what has been going on at home. Why else would they call me to the principal's office? I thought that I was doing a good job hiding what was happening. I bathe, I always wear clean clothes. I am always polite to the teachers, I didn't tell my friends, mainly because i don't have any friends but that is beside the point. I don't need friends, I don't have a mother but I don't need her anymore. I don't need anyone. I will be okay, I will do this by myself and the world will see how strong someone can be when they aren't weighed down by others. I tell myself as I push the door open to the office and walk to the principal's door. I hesitantly knock and turn the handle after a hurried _Come In_ from the other side of the door. I have no fear, I walk in and sit in the chair that I have been gestured to sit in.

"Miss Niehaus, something has recently been brought to my attention by some of your teachers."

I know what is coming, _Your mother has left you alone, You have no-one._ These are not the words that spill out of the principal mouth, instead he says very excitedly

"I have been hearing about how well you are doing in all of your subjects and especially from one teacher, how passionate you are about science." He grins at me as he finishes speaking, looking at me expectantly for some form of confirmation. _Well, this is unexpected._ I smile back at him, it is true. I love science, any form of science. I am going to be a scientist, if it kills me.

"Well, I have been pointed in the direction of a summer program that takes young students who are enthusiastic about science and what to see what is out there in the world of science. Does this sound like something that you would be interested?"

"Yes, I want to go." I nearly scream at him. I can't contain myself, I almost jump out of the seat.

"Okay, so here is the information sheet and permission form that needs to be signed by a parent or guardian. When that is done, bring it back here and I along with your science teacher will sign it and send it off." He says as he hands me a bundle of sheets and shooing me with his hand, picks up the phone and begins to dial a number.

I walk back to class, happier than before but a bit disappointed. I mean, like nobody has noticed that my mother has been gone for nearly a week. I really don't need anyone. I can do this and I will.

 _A few days later_

I get home from school on Monday and dump my bag into my room like always. I walk into the kitchen to get some food and something is different. Mum is back. She is just sitting at the kitchen table like she normally would when I get back from school. She looks up as I walk in and smiles.

"How was school honey?" She asks as if nothing has changed, like she hadn't disappeared for over a week, leaving her nine-year-old at home alone. No way am I going to leave this alone.

"Where have you been? Did you have a nice vacation from being a mother?" I cross my arms over my chest and stand defiant and strong.

"I just had to get away for a bit, I knew you would be fine. You are so smart, I know you can look after yourself." She said as if trying to justify what she did. I walk away to grab what I came into the kitchen for and scoff at the weak explanation of why she left. I turn to face her.

"Just because I don't need to be watch every second of the day doesn't mean that I know how to look after my self for an undetermined amount of time. Don't think that I will forget what you have done. I don't know what was going through that head of yours, seriously." And I left to my room to do homework, the only thing that is going to help me get anywhere in life since obviously my mother is not going to be any help. I can only rely on me and that is what I am going to have to do.

The relationship was never the same with my mother, we grew more distant and every now and again something would bring us together for some time but we never got any where near what we had before that first departure. She continued to do this go away and come back for maybe three years, sometimes a day, sometimes a week. She came back one time when I was around 12, saying that she was going to have a baby and things would be different. She had a girl and called her Alison, she loved Alison but as soon as Alison starting showing a preference for me, she start to withdraw from us. I was probably 15 when she left the next time, that was complicated. Ali was only 3 and I had school. I would go if mum was around which was often but different days, I managed. I was still top of my class for most subjects but the school was starting to question my absences. Mum came around and I managed to convince her to put Ali in daycare so that mum wouldn't have to take care of her during the day. This made my school life easier when mum was gone on her 'vacations'. The cycle continued this way, the only thing that changed was Alison going to school and me getting a job and this is just how it was for many years until this year.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One

I sneak into the lecture theatre, this is where I should be. I sit down in a seat close to the back so I can slip out unnoticed if I need to but no-one ever notices me. I don't go to college, I don't do much of anything except work and look after my sisters Alison who is at school and Kira, who is currently asleep in her carrier on the floor. No-one really notices her and if they do, they just think that its nice she is asleep. It wasn't meant to be like this, I was meant to go to uni and become something but instead I work two jobs just trying to make enough to keep a roof over my head and my 2 other sisters and things for Kira. Mother left us 4 months ago, not long after Kira was born, she went out to get some stuff for Kira and never came back. I should have known something was up, Mum would never do something if she could get me to do. I pretty much did everything, the cleaning, the cooking, the laundry and work so we can live. Mum contributes a bit but she hasn't worked in a while. This wasn't the first time she had left, I was 9, I think, when she first left. She came back after a week or so. It was okay, I mean you know, once I got over the fact that I was alone but I had some food in the house and nobody came to question where my mother was and I was smart, I could take care of myself without anyone's assistance. I basically raised myself as it was. She came back and acted like nothing had happened. Mum was around pretty much all the time after Alison was born except a few days or a week or so at a time. Mum hadn't left for a while before she was pregnant with Kira and Alison and I thought that things had changed but she went more and more frequently for about month, was gone for a few days then a few months later, Mum told us about how she was having another baby and things were going to change this time and she would be stuck home. Nope. She seemed to love the idea of this new baby or at least she was for the first week or two, she did seem to love her and took care of her.

It was harder when Alison was little and I was still in high school but I would call up and say I was sick and have however long it took mum to come home off. I never fell behind, I was pretty much always ahead of the class anyway in most subjects. Alison is in school now so I don't have to worry about her during the day and she does drama class after school or stays back at the library trying to get her grades up a bit so that takes care of her until 5 when I finish work. Kira pretty much just sleeps and eats, I see a look in her eyes and I think that she knows whats going on and is trying to help out anyway she can. I have an hour between my two jobs everyday, I always come to this lecture theatre because it is the science hall and I can't think of a better way to spend my free hour then to listen in on a lecture on anything to do with science. The people bustle in and take their seats. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out. Its the school ringing me. I slip my bag on my back, pick up the capsule and rush outside as I answer the phone.

"Hello?" I can hear sobbing faintly in the background

"Miss Niehaus, this is Principle Leekie. I'm sorry but we need you to come down to the school. There has been a problem with Alison and we can't seem to get Alison to calm down."

"Okay, I will be there as fast as I can."

"Thank you Miss Niehaus. We are in the office, if you can meet us there."

I rush to my Camry, the best car that I afford, clip Kira's capsule into the car and off we go to Alison's school that is 20 mins away.

We arrive pretty quickly but I have only 15 minutes left of my break between jobs. I grabbed Kira out of the car and race to the office to see my little sister. I open the door to the office and see Alison curled up on one of the chairs in the office with the legs up and arms wrapped around her legs securing them in place. I bend down to Alison's level so that I can look into her red-rimmed eyes with tears threatening to spill at any second.

"Hey, what's going on?" I whisper softly

"It's Mother's day and everyone's mothers came in to have a day of craft and stuff. The other kids kept asking where my mum was and why she wasn't here today." She whispers back to me in an equally soft voice that crackles slightly as she speaks.

"I didn't see anything about it. No notes were sent home." I gaze at her questioningly.

"I took it out of my bag so you wouldn't see. I thought I could handle it."

"It is okay, you don't have to be okay with everything. It's okay to be sad sometimes."

I wrap her in my arms and kiss her hair, Alison snuggles into the cuddle like she always does. Kira makes a disgruntled noise and I realise she is probably feeling a little annoyed at being in her capsule when she isn't asleep or having any attention and she knows she can get out. Kira is remarkably smart for a little baby, she knows things and I think she understands so much more than I realise. I get Kira out of her capsule and settle her in my arms before turning to the principal.

"How much longer of today is Mother's day?" I say as I cradle Kira in my arms.

"The whole day is designated for having the mothers and children today." I mentally curse and frustratedly sigh.

"I have to go to work." I say almost defeatedly to no-one in particular. I can't take the day off work its enough that I take Kira but I can't leave Alison here if she is getting so upset. I don't know what I should do. I don't have long before I have to leave for work if I want to get there, somewhat on time. The door bursts open when a curly blonde haired woman, who is way too good looking, breezes through the doorway.

"Ms Cormier!" Alison instantly perks up and its like nothing has happened and the world is right.

"Bonjour, Alison. How are you? I heard you were a bit upset and wanted to come see if you were alright." She says with a thick french accent. _French._ Alison looks down and says to her shoes.

"I'm fine." The principal now turned back to me, ignoring the new person in the room.

"Well, Miss Niehaus we are happy for Alison to stay for the day but if she is like this again, I will have to call you to collect her. Is there no way for you to take her?" He said almost condescendingly at me.

"Look, I'm trying the best I can. I have to go to work. She says that she is fine now. I can take her if you want but I would prefer she didn't miss school even though this day is ridiculous." I say defensively to the principal. Kira picking up on my distress, decides to make her presence known as she starts to cry. Alison wraps herself around me and I look at the clock with tears in my eyes now as I try to comfort both my sisters and failing. The principal leaves us with a flippant "Let us know what you decide."I sink down into one of the chairs with both children wrapped around me. Kira slows her crying to a soft little sob/hiccough every few seconds, Alison stands to look at me.

"I know you need to work, I will go back to class." My heart breaks a little for my little sister who has to be bigger than she is. Ms Cormier tentatively walks closer to the three of us huddled together and she speaks softly.

"Désolé but I could help overhearing that you have a bit of a situation. I am the science teacher and since it is Mother's Day, I have no classes to teach and I have finished my paperwork so Alison could stay with me instead of going home."

"Are you sure? I could probably take her with me to work for today." I say looking up at the taller woman who smiles back at me.

"Oui, I am most sure. We will have a good rest of the day and you can go to work as normal."

"Thank you, That is an amazing help, Obvs. Um, Ali are you okay with this?" I turn to Alison and ask.

"Yeah, I like Ms Cormier. It will be fun." She smiles and looks at Ms Cormier who smiles back at her. I adjust Kira who is getting a bit too heavy and rethink me holding her and put her back into her capsule. She goes into her capsule well and I make a mental note to feed her before work. Shit! Work. I totally forgot about work. Crap. I pick Kira and turn to give Ali a kiss on the cheek before leaving.

"Sorry Ali, I gotta go. Have fun with Ms Cormier. Thanks again. I'm going to be late for work." I'm almost out the door when I hear a little voice whisper.

"She is always late." I can hear the smile in her voice but I don't have enough time to spare to go back so I race on to the next job.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

I run in the door, only 2 minutes late. I rush to behind the counter and put Kira on a nearby table.

"Sorry, I'm late." I say to my boss Mrs S. who walks through to the front from the back. She is the best employer you could have, she gave me the job back when Mum was still around and I only needed a few hours a day work to keep up with what Mum could't pay. She even offered to have us move in with her when mum left. I could never do that to her.

"Love, you are always kinda late."

"And I'm always kinda sorry." She smiles at me as she makes her way over to Kira.

"How has my girl been today?"

"She has been an angel because things with Kira never change. Alison had a bit of an issue at the School so I had to go down."

"Poor thing, what happened?" She now has Kira in her arms and is smiling down at the little angel.

"Mothers came in to talk about what they do for work and some kids kept asking her where her mum was and why she wasn't there. She took the note for it out of her bag to hide it from me, like really. She has to hide stuff from me." I rant as I get everything ready for the lunch rush.

"Look sweetie, she is handling this the best way that she knows how. It took you a bit to get everything figured out to tell people." S says while she gets a bottle for Kira. Best Boss Ever.

"Yeah, I just had no friends." I mumble under my breath and continue to prep the stuff for lunch.

"Oh, that's not true. You had some friends, what was that girl's name? Shay." I couldn't hold back the loud snot bursting from me.

"So Shay, yeah such a good friend. Dated me for 6 months then broke my heart after I told her about my home life. Great Friend, tots." My mumbling was lost on S who had walked into the office where she spent my shift with Kira. I decide to focus on my work and not on the day that has been. I get so focused on the customers that I didn't notice my shift was nearly over. The number of customers slowly dwindled to one customer every 10 minutes or so. Mrs. S brought Kira out carrying her capsule with her on her shoulder. "Alright, Love time for you to go get the other little one and go home" S said as she passed Kira over.

"I hope she was okay for the rest of the day." I said as I put Kira into her capsule and made my way to the door, waving as I left.

I arrived at the school to see Alison sitting on the steps where she always sat but today she had company. The person who was sitting with her was the science teacher Ms Cormier. I pull up to where Alison is sitting, she looks up at the notice of the car and moves to get up as does Ms Cormier. I hop out of the car and walk over to join the two.

"Hey Ali, Hello Ms Cormier. Have some company to wait with you today?" I say and look at Ms Cormier questioningly and back to Alison.

"My drama class was canceled but I didn't have a way to call you so I waited in the library until it closed and came out here."

"I saw her on my way to the car and thought I would come sit with her until you showed up. It was only 10 minutes." Ms Cormier said, smiling sweetly at me. I looked back, my cheeks burning with the force of blush from embarrassment.

"Thank you for staying with her, Ali did you try the office, to get them to call me?" Alison was looking at the ground, I put a hand under her chin to lift it

"No, I didn't. I didn't want to go back in there today." I bent down to her level

"Alison, I get that, totally but what if were to happen to you? I wouldn't know where you were or if you were safe." Alison looked back at me with defiance.

"I was fine, okay. Nothing happened to me, I'm fine!" Alison pulled her face away and went to sit in the car. I stood shocked for a few seconds before getting back into reality. I turned and nodded to Ms Cormier and thanked her again. I got in the car before she could respond and drove home, no sound was heard except the motor and Kira babbling at Alison trying to get some attention.

We arrived home, Alison leaping from the car the second it had stopped. She was inside the house before I had Kira out of the car. I walked inside just in time to hear the door to her bedroom slam shut. I looked down at Kira in my arms and asked the little one if she had any ideas about Ali, of course as babies do, Kira smiled and cooed at me. I put Kira on the mat and started to make dinner for all of us. The routine of coming home and making dinner is not the same without Alison sitting at the table recounting the events of the day. I finish dinner and leave it warming in the oven, I check Kira is fine and make my way to Alison's room. I knock before opening the door and slowly peeking my head in. The soft sound of some show tune is playing quietly on Alison CD player.

"Can I come in?" I ask tentatively

"Sure" Alison mumbles from the bed. I walk in and join her, lying down next to her.

"So what happened today after I left?" I say quietly, nudging Alison with my shoulder.

"I hung out with Ms Cormier until the bell rang and then I went to Drama Club but it wasn't on so I went to the library but they closed early too. So I sat on the steps and Ms Cormier saw me and came and talked to me." She told me with a carefree tone but I can sense that something is wrong.

"Ali, you know that you can tell me anything, right?" I ask her hoping that this will coax her into divulging what is wrong.

"I know, everything is fine." Alison said matter-of-factly. She look at me and smiled as if to reinforce that she is okay.

"Okay then, if you say so. I know that I had a hard day today." I say knowing that this is bound to get her talking.

"Today was a hard day but today is almost over and tomorrow is a new day." Alison said and smiled again, something happened today. This is not Alison's typical response to a bad day. I think that I will leave this for now. I pat Alison on the leg and tell her to wash up for dinner, dragging myself into the kitchen to serve dinner. I put Kira into her chair so that she can be apart of dinner even if she doesn't eat, as I am putting out the plates on the table, Alison sits down and digs into her dinner and I follow suit.

Alison still hadn't said anything by the time she went to bed. I gave her a quick reminder that I am always here if she wants to talk and say goodnight. I am sitting in bed giving Kira her bottle and I find myself daydreaming about the mysterious Ms Cormier. Her voice replays in my head as I sit there and feed Kira, her little eyes drooping as she sucks down the milk. She soon will be asleep, she finishes her bottle, I burp her and put into her cradle. I shower and change for bed, getting into bed, I fall asleep with the sounds of a french woman still sounding in my head.


End file.
